Shloka 118
Ahiṃsā as Threefold Restraint (Mind–Speech–Action) and the Ethics of Consumption
ततः पश्चान्महाराज कृमियोनौ प्रजायते । कृमिर्विशतिवर्षाणि भूत्वा जायति मानुष:,महाराज! तदनन्तर वह कीड़ेकी योनिमें जन्म लेता है और बीस वर्षोंतक कीट-योनिमें रहकर अन्तमें मनुष्य होता है
tataḥ paścān mahārāja kṛmiyonau prajāyate | kṛmir viśati-varṣāṇi bhūtvā jāyati mānuṣaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „Dann, o großer König, wird er im Schoß eines Wurmes geboren. Nachdem er zwanzig Jahre lang ein Wurm gewesen ist, wird er danach wieder als Mensch geboren.“
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores karmic consequence and moral causality: certain actions can lead to degrading rebirths, yet the cycle also allows eventual return to human birth after undergoing the appropriate fruition of karma.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes a sequence of rebirth: after a prior stage (implied by the surrounding discussion), the being is born as a worm, remains in that state for twenty years, and then is reborn as a human—illustrating the graded results of deeds across lives.